when you feel like giving up ...

It will be hard. I won't say that it won't be especially if they will
be putting you where I feel they would because you're a big man and you
are strong. Physically, it will be very tough, probably tougher than
anything you have ever experienced. You will be so tired that when you
get home, you want nothing else to do but take a shower (you have to!)
and crawl into bed. You will be so tired that you will start questioning
why you even went there in the first place when you were doing pretty
well over here.

It will be frustrating. People around
you won't understand the pains you are going through. Your family might
not understand what you are going through. As much as I try, I also
might not understand fully what you are going through over there. You
will be giving it your best but it may feel that your best is not
enough.

IT IS. It will just take time for people to
fully appreciate and understand things. It will just take a lot of
patience and understanding on all sides for clarity to happen. It will
just take a lot of love for things to survive.

As
cliche as it may sound, it is when it is darkest that the light starts
to come out. It is during heavy storms that the strongest tree is tested
and proves its worth. It is when things fall apart that things actually
really fall into place.

Every single bad thing that
will happen or you may encounter will be a blessing in disguise. It will
prepare you for better things, for amazingly good things. I know this
because the same thing has happened to me. When something bad happens,
when I am down in the dumps and I feel like there is absolutely nowhere
for me to go to because I am so far gone, it is when the good things
start to happen.

Remember this: "when you are on ground zero, there is nowhere to go but up."

You
will feel homesick. You will miss the most important persons in your
life. You will miss the familiarity of your daily routine. You will miss
the smell of the places around you. You will miss even the mundane
things. It will hurt so much that you wouldn't know what to do with the
pain. It will eat at you.

You need to handle this. You
need to learn to handle this in a productive and positive way. You need
to accept that it will be awhile before you see the people you love BUT
you will see them. You will get to hold them in your arms and tell them
you love them. You will get to be with them soon enough.

Do
not give up. You have wanted this for a very long time and you finally
have it. It is now in the palm of your hands. Do not let go.

Just
like with me ... you said that you just used to dream about me; that
you dreamt about me way back when you were in high school. You finally
have me now and I will be yours as long as you want me to be yours. Do
not give up. Do not give up on us or let go. You have wanted this for a
very long time and you finally have me. I now belong to you. Do not let
go.

When things seem to be falling apart, when
everything seems to go wrong, when the ache in your body and in your
heart may feel too much ... remember ... you wanted this and you wanted
us. DO NOT GIVE UP.